How any South African sellout so-called black leader can chose to reinstate the British Queen as the Head of State of a "new" SA defies imagination.
It is Mbeki and m7 who undermined our AU unity project so ruthlessly, in Sirte Libya.They are always serving us to Master. On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Herrn Edward Mulindwa <mulin...@look.ca>wrote: > *Tsvangirai: Prisoner of his own rhetoric* > > July 24, 2013 SuperAdmin<http://www.herald.co.zw/author/superadministrator1/> > Opinion > & > Analysis<http://www.herald.co.zw/category/s6-demo-section/c39-opinion-a-analysis/> > No > comments<http://www.herald.co.zw/tsvangirai-prisoner-of-his-own-rhetoric/#respond> > **** > > a good idea of what is going on when really all they have is Harry’s view. > Harry is a little slow, thus his perspective is quite a restricted one. We > find out about this at the end of every book when circumstances reveal all > the mistakes Harry made in judgment, often from lack of information or just > misunderstanding and neglecting clues on the periphery of his vision. This > slap-in-the-forehead revelation confounds not just the reader but the > protagonist Harry himself.**** > > The characters in the Harry Porter books also practise narrative > misdirection, for example, Voldemort in Chamber of Secrets where he used > his diary presentation of Hagrid-as-Heir-of-Gryffindor for that purpose, > and again in Order of the Phoenix where he convinces the wizard world of > what they want to believe — that he isn’t back, when he is clearly in front > of them. This is the world of make-believe, we love it. What’s life without > hyperbole? The fact that the readers see almost everything through Harry’s > eyes is what keeps them fooled. They only know that they were being fooled > at the end. The reader of Harry Porter forgets that they are reading > Harry’s restricted thoughts, not seeing the story from the objective > narrator. It is all too easy to be tricked.**** > > The point is, that people aren’t what they seem. That people can be > playing other people using, in Harry Porter’s case, Polyjuice Potion, of > course, only makes it that much more important that we be sceptical about > what we think we know and that we try to be “penetrating” in our reading > and experience of others. Accomplished writers know that this virtue of > mind, penetration, is the end and aim of thoughtful reading. But are we > with them? I am. We’re nothing if we’re not neptic, right?**** > > In Orthodox Christian theology, nepsis is watchfulness, is sobriety; but > it does not come cheap. It is a result of sustained carthasis or > purification and purgation of emotions. When we become neptic, we can hear > and not feel because we have already felt. Our tragedy allows us to > overcome fear and anxiety because we have gone through some form of > carthasis.**** > > Zimbabweans over the last decade in particular have gone through some form > of carthasis and have become neptic. Thanks to the raft of illegal > sanctions and the dysfunctionality of the inclusive Government or that > three-headed monster that could easily form the subject of Harry Porter’s > wizardry. No amount of spin or narrative misdirection on the Zimbabwean > story can transfix us anymore into the hypnotic state that we experience > through reading Harry Porter, or any other wizardry script. In that light, > it is difficult to threaten us or call our emotions in a manner that is > reminiscent of 2008 as the MDCs are trying to do — filled with cholera > images, images of hunger and starvation, of bucket loads of cash. Because > we hit rock bottom in 2008, carthasised and emerged somewhat triumphantly, > and because we now know the sources of those troubles, we can no longer > feed on the 2008 narrative, the narrative of hunger, that we will all die > if the MDC-T is not voted into power. Cholera has come and gone, without > the lifting of sanctions, it can’t come worse than it did in 2007. Our > people have carthasised and are now neptic. Simply put, they have moved on > from the political narrative of hunger and now focus on nation-building and > ownership of the means of production.**** > > Carthasis is great because once people are enlightened they can no longer > think in simple terms. Our intellectual clarity does not allow us to accept > narrative misdirection like “Vote for me and investor money will pour into > Zimbabwe”. Which investor, what money?**** > > The same investor that failed Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, DRC, > Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar, Swaziland and Lesotho for > decades? People are no longer thinking in such simplistic terms, because > they already voted for the MDCs in 2008 and manna did not fall from heaven > for them. We cannot wallow in orgies of emotion and passion in perpetuity. > After five years of the inclusive Government, Zimbabweans are more > enlightened. Zimbabweans cannot rest content with a lie, they have already > torn away the last veil from the illusion in which they have been made to > live so long — that salvation comes from those who damned you in the first > place — the West. > “Mugabe is too old to rule”**** > > The “Oracle” that is Tsvangirai has told Zimbabwe, which has the highest > literacy rate on the continent, that we should vote him as President of > Zimbabwe because “Mugabe is old”. Did they ever vote Mugabe into power > because he was young? This failure to understand why after such > vilification (nationally and internationally) Mugabe holds sway is the > reason why the MDCs have failed to appeal to large sections of the > Zimbabwean population. The “We hate Robert Mugabe”, “Robert Mugabe is old” > narrative cannot generate electoral victory in a country where the > conscience of the people has gone through years of catharsis through a > protracted liberation struggle. This sort of Quill Club top-down analysis > that the MDC-T survives on, based on boardroom or senior common room > notions of what people want, cannot guarantee electoral victory in a > country like Zimbabwe, given the genealogy of its struggle. The Quill Club > is a social space for imbibers and we all know such people cannot generate > national electoral success. The psychology of the ballot box is much more > complicated than the numbers of red berets displayed at rallies or the > variety of ludicrous dances displayed by wannabe leaders. No Harry Porter > wizardry will translate that into electoral victory.**** > > Tsvangirai’s story-telling during this election round is tired and time > warped. Delgado will tell you that storytelling in court is meant to > convince judge and jury and the storyteller’s narrative has to resonate > with the psyche of those two groups. If not, the case will be lost. One > simply cannot discredit a presidential aspirant because of their age. This > is a tired story, a misdirected narrative. In fact Zimbabwe will not be in > the Guinness Book of World Records if President Mugabe is voted into power, > as Tsvangirai said. President of the State of Israel, Shimon Perez, turned > 90 in June. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia still reigns supreme at President > Mugabe’s age, so does Giorgio Napolitano, current President of Spain. > Napolitano, born in 1925, was elected on the fourth round of legislative > balloting, on May 10 2006 and re-elected to a second term on the sixth > round with 738 votes, much more than the 504 necessary for a simple > majority on 20 April 2013.**** > > Age is not an issue, capacity is. Is Tsvangirai capable? Does he have a > story to sell the Zimbabwean people, apart from his protest politics? The > Castro family is loved not because of age but has a national story which > resonates with the Cuban people. The Cubans gave a solid 52 years to Fidel > Castro, the Chinese 46 to Chiang Kai-Shek, the Spanish 39 years to > Francisco Franco, the Portuguese 39 years to António de Oliveira Salazar, > and the Bulgarians 35 years to Todor Zhivkov. Winston Churchill started his > second term at a senior age of 77, even after suffering a series of strokes > prior to that.**** > > Why did the British vote him into power? They were facing a danger and > needed Churchill’s skill and dexterity to handle national and international > affairs. Why was he recently voted as the Best Briton that ever lived, > surpassing Shakespeare? At 87 years, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State, > Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Head of the Commonwealth, queen > regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, > Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylo. The > national story is told and handled better by the Queen and she is a symbol > of continuity of Britishness. John McCain’s resurgence in US politics is > inspired by his role as a veteran soldier, and his ripe age is immaterial. > Long service is not only characteristic of Africa, that’s a lie peddled by > those who are lazy to read, or those bent on narrative misdirection for > personal gain.**** > > “We will generate a million jobs in five years” > How does one generate a million jobs in five years from a sanctioned > economy whose key economic players are subjected to the panoptic scrutiny > of the Office for Foreign Assets Control (Ofac)? A million jobs cannot be > generated by economies who are pampered by the West. EU is generating zero > jobs at the moment and the economies of the constituent countries are flat > lining or registering negative growth. What more can Zimbabwe do under > Zidera, under the Ofac noose?**** > > Sanctions are here to stay, especially US Zidera. It needs a Senate > committee to remove the restrictions, then a bill to be passed by the House > of Representatives, and that’s no walk-in-the park. Ask Nelson Mandela who > had the embarrassing moment as president of South Africa of getting special > certification from the US secretary of state that he was no longer a > terrorist in order to visit the country. Ofac has, and will continue to > lynch our economy. That lynching cannot be atoned by Tsvangirai’s narrative > misdirection. Zimbabweans are smart people, that’s why the Winter of > Discontent, the Final Push, the Last Mile and other such ridiculous mottos > suffered stillbirth. > Enter the “Grand Coalitions”**** > > They are not grand, and they are not coalitions. The last political unity > in Zimbabwe was in 1987 between Zanu-PF and PF-Zapu. It subsists today with > the fault lines getting blurred. You cannot create a grand coalition with > your fraction, the two MDCs were once one, they became rhizomatic. You > cannot create a grand coalition with a non-existent political party — > Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn. That is not a party, it’s a project, and projects have > a shelf life, as we saw with Makoni’s chickening out of the presidential > race. Zapu also is no more. It already merged with Zanu on two major > occasions: in 1979 to form the Patriotic Front, and the PF was superglued > in 1987 by the Unity Accord. Anything calling itself Zapu is not a people’s > union, but a “Zimbabwe African Personalities Union”. The Zanu Ndonga that > supposedly merged with MDC-T is neither a party nor a project, but a > one-man Muppet show by a man who submitted his nomination papers to run for > Parliament under the name of the MDC-T, so it cannot form a coalition with > itself.**** > > There is a narrative misdirection implied in the term “grand coalition”. > Tsvangirai is a brand that has been propped up for some time to promote > certain foreign policy interests of certain countries. There has been some > investment by someone and that investment cannot be dispensed willy nilly. > However, Tsvangirai lacks the precision of a technocrat; he needs some > hand-holding as WikiLeaks revealed.**** > > This is where Makoni fills the hole, yes there’s a hole. He’s a local > hand-holder. Combine the two; you have good surrogates for a grand foreign > policy, not of Zimbabwe, but for whoever calls the tune — the payer of the > piper. For Makoni, it is also about personal ambition, therein lies the > problem. So the MDC-T hole will never be filled. Let’s admit, since > Willowgate and since Sadc, things have not been as rosy for Makoni on a > personal level. Tipped, back in the day, as a future Zanu-PF leader — he > astonished people by breaking away from the party, in the hope that he > would send shockwaves in national politics.**** > > There was no reading on the Richter scale — and no other dissenters came > forth except Dabengwa. Now he is preparing for a role in an imaginary GNU. > He is rooting for one, just like Tsvangirai, just like Welshman. Like in > the Harry Porter offing, “Phoenix” the GNU co-conspirators are convinced of > the world they believe will exist. They have already carved a live ox, and > partitioned a government of make-believe. They are living in a 2007-8 time > warp.**** > > Unlike Harry Porter, Tsvangirai, Ncube, Dabengwa, Makoni do not have the > Polyjuice Potion to alter the national story, or bring about another GNU. > The catharsis that Zimbabweans experienced cannot be altered, it is a lived > experience. You cannot alter people’s past experiences, you may try to > influence the future experience, but even that is a surmountable task. > Besides, it is too late, indigenisation and empowerment are upon us, and > our boardrooms are filled with harbingers of 51 percent, the mind has been > set, the mindset cannot be altered.**** > > Our farms are occupied and functioning, or well on their way to > functioning. Our people have the entrepreneurial spirit, not the worker > mentality and the colonial economy of 1980 was replaced by a different > mindset. Thanks to sanctions, people now know the importance of owning > their own, working their own, trading their own. Just ask the Chief > Registrar of Companies how many names are still available for company > registration. Not many, you’d have to come up with very creative name > permutations to register a company in Zimbabwe. I tried it.**** > > Security Sector Reform > There is a footprint to the narrative of security sector reform. Whose > footprint is the question? Surely it is not a national one, inspired by > national sentiment. It is someone locked in the Africom project, in > military expansionism, in unipolarity, in replacing diplomacy with > something very sinister, very alien. Security sector reform was completed > in 1980 with Zanla, Zipra and the Rhodesia Front coming together. Why do > you think Dabengwa “the Black Russian” has no appetite for it? Propping the > security sector debate is another classic example of narrative > misdirection. The Constitutional exercise relegated this issue to the > dustbin together with media reform. They never featured, why should they > feature now? There is simply no national appetite for these issues. The > national debate is and has always been about land. Lancaster House > negotiations almost collapsed over land ownership debates.**** > > Chimurengas were about land, ask the Tangwena people. It is as important > today as it was at Lancaster House, and it divides political players as it > did back in the days of Chimurenga. The preamble to the new Constitution > highlights this. National discourse about security sector reform and > devolution has failed to take off, but through narrative misdirection they > have been catapulted into national debates with disastrous consequences. > Our troops are professional and well respected globally, and cannot be > disbanded to be replaced by a paramilitary group composed of unprofessional > renegades who do not have an understanding of the history and struggles of > the Zimbabwean people. > “We want devolution”**** > > Who wants devolution? The word features only once in the new Constitution > in Chapter 14, Section 264 “Devolution of governmental powers and > responsibilities”. So why is it an electoral issue if it’s already in the > Constitution? Is there selective amnesia here? The MDC had representatives > during the constitutional exercise; they campaigned for a “Yes Vote”. Why > did they do that if they wanted a different form of devolution? There’s > lack of detail with regards to the call for devolution. The warped call > for, and debate over, devolution, is couched on the hidden agenda that > Matabeleland is home only to Ndebeles and they are left out of development. > This is narrative misdirection. Its genealogy dates back to the invasion of > the Kalanga Rozwi Empire by Ndebeles from the Zulu Kingdom in the 1830s. > The Kalanga are incorporated into that group. Matabeleland houses Bulawayo, > the second largest city. Why not devolve to less developed Binga or other > areas? In any case, who lives in Matabeleland?**** > > The histories of Tegwani Mission and Mpilo Hospital, for example, tell a > different story. Many non-Ndebele people live in the region having settled > when Tegwani was the centre for education in the domestic sciences for > girls and teacher training for men, and Mpilo was centre stage for nurse > training and where many black doctors practised. As far as secondary > education was concerned, in 1951 Tegwani became the second school after the > Seventh Day Adventist mission at Solusi to admit students for the Junior > Certificate. > The people living in Matabeleland have no tribal inklings — they are > simply Zimbabweans — and don’t care about devolution, only development, and > the two are not conjoined twins. The people of arid Gwanda and other areas > in Matabeleland include those Shonas who were moved by Ian Smith from > fertile lands in Mashonaland. They do not have any appetite for devolution. > They recognise the importance of working together as a nation. In fact > Matabeleland is a construct of the colonial administration with arbitrary > boundaries drawn for colonial administration’s convenience.**** > > “We want media reform” > What is media reform? It is not an event, it is a process that is > iterative, never-ending. Britain is still battling with that. Ask Mr > Leveson . . . Much of the “momentum” for regulatory reform of the media in > this country has stemmed from the MDC-T’s annoyance and frustration with > The Herald’s editorial. Why does Zanu-PF not complain about the anti-Mugabe > editorial of the Daily News, the Zimbabwe Independent, the Standard or > NewsDay? Anti-MDC-T media coverage may be uncomfortable for Tsvangirai and > his party, but taking offence is no reason in itself to impose constraints > on what the Press can say. The Zimbabwean churns out anti-Mugabe and > anti-Zanu-PF rhetoric, yet it was licensed in the country. We may > disapprove of what the more trigger-happy journalists say on this or that > issue, but we should defend to death their right to say it, as Voltaire is > said to have put it. With the exceptions of hate speech and defamation, > that is an essential principle for a democracy to follow. The media should > never be used for political payback, or as a solid foundation on which to > introduce far-reaching legislative reform. The media itself is oblivious to > the implications of such a call by the MDC-T. They even publish statements > in favour of media reform, but fail to demand detail from detail-deficient > Tsvangirai. Talk about hanging a noose on one’s throat. With Tsvangirai in > power the country would be on a precipice of a ham-fisted attempt to > restrain, contain and, at its worse, punish the media in a way which is > totally out of step with the energy and character of modern media and > technology. Remember his threat to journalists if he wins the election?*** > * > > Let’s go to the polls > While we go to the polls, let’s remember the tired story-telling from a > man who says Zimbabwe will go down in history for electing a senior man > (Mugabe) as president. That kind of stuff is fun in meetings held in rooms > above pubs, over a meal funded by handlers, at the Quill Club and in blog > comments, but it has no future as mainstream electoral politics.**** > > Should they, alternatively, go into the history books for electing a known > “bunga bunga” Berlusconisque type womaniser instead? A country that elects > a politician of Tsvangirai’s calibre, simply to drive out a revolutionary > with a solid history, is practising self-harm. In the cacophony of > politics, we need leaders that give intellectual form to modern challenges > and to explore the challenges facing post-independence African countries in > the 21st century.**** > > *Comments and suggestions to i...@talkzimbabwe.com.***** > > ** ** > > Thé Mulindwas Communication Group > "With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy" > Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi > "Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko" > **** > > ** ** > > _______________________________________________ > Ugandanet mailing list > Ugandanet@kym.net > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet > > UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > All Archives can be found at > http://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > --------------------------------------- > >
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list Ugandanet@kym.net http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ All Archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
